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Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News

Alabama Shakes and Vintage Trouble rock and groove ACL 41

Austin City Limits returns to new episodes with an electrifying double-bill featuring two great live acts—Alabama Shakes and Vintage Trouble.

Alabama Shakes return to the ACL stage for a powerhouse performance on the heels of their five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, for Sound & Color, which debuted at No. 1 and topped critics’ 2015 year-end best album lists.  The Athens, Alabama-based modern soul band, who first appeared in Season 38, have become international sensations since their 2012 debut, with breakout performances at music’s biggest festivals including Coachella, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza and ACL Fest.  Lead singer Brittany Howard demonstrates her stunning vocal and emotional range in a knock-out six-song set exclusively showcasing Sound & Color, with blazing renditions of “Don’t Wanna Fight”, the Grammy-nominated track for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance and the anthemic “Gimme All Your Love”.  The soulful set-closer “Over My Head” highlights the Shakes’ genre-bending sense of exploration, as they continue to break new sonic ground as one of the finest bands of their generation.

“Few contemporary singers in the world today can touch the raw power and emotion of Brittany Howard,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona.  “Since their ACL debut, before they even had their first record out, Alabama Shakes has reached new heights, and their Grammy nomination for Album of the Year says it all!”

photo by Scott Newton

For their first appearance on ACL, Vintage Trouble deliver a thrilling, explosive performance. The high-energy LA quartet has garnered massive attention for their stadium-worthy live show, securing opening slots with rock giants AC/DC, The Rolling Stones and The Who.  Rolling Stone raves, “Imagine James Brown singing lead for Led Zeppelin and you’ll get an idea of Vintage Trouble’s muscular, in the pocket sound.” VT performs a blistering five-song set filled with the electrifying soul, blues and rock of their recent album 1 Hopeful Rd. Dynamic frontman Ty Taylor ventures into the audience for the set-opener “Run Like The River,” and in an ACL first, climbs through the studio to deliver the song’s close from the theater’s balcony. “Can we go back to the 1950s, and can we imagine that we are in a juke joint in North Carolina?” asks Taylor, and the Austin crowd is happy to oblige, on their feet for the entirety, hands-clapping and fists-pumping. A sweat-soaked Taylor lets his passion loose on the set-closing ballad “Run Outta You,” sparking a crowd sing-along that moves the charismatic singer to tears for a memorable debut.  

“I’ve never seen anyone take command of a stage (and audience) like Ty Taylor and Vintage Trouble!” says Lickona.  “It was a musical and emotional roller-coaster ride. People are still talking about that taping—and now so will viewers.”

Tune in this weekend for this episode, and, as always, check your local PBS listings for the broadcast time in your area. Go to the episode page for more info, and don’t forget to click over to our Facebook, Twitter and newsletter pages for more ACL info. Tune in next week for another new episode, featuring the ACL debut of rap superstar Kendrick Lamar.

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News Taping Recap

Tedeschi Trucks Band on fire for ACL debut

All good things come to an end, and so it is with our 41st taping season. But we went out with a flourish, courtesy of Tedeschi Trucks Band. Co-leader Susan Tedeschi is no stranger to these shores, of course, having appeared on Austin City Limits before in seasons 24 and 29. But this is the first appearance of TTB, the band she formed five years ago with husband/master guitarist Derek Trucks. Mixing new material from the forthcoming LP Let Me Get By with choice covers, many drawn from the twelve-piece’s recent tribute show to Joe Cocker’s legendary album Mad Dogs and Englishmen, TTB gave us a memorable performance that perfectly closed out the season while being streamed live around the world to an audience of thousands.

The set began with the funky “There’s a Break in the Road,” a tune originally found on Tedeschi’s solo LP Back to the River. The band then jumped into the first of the new songs – “Don’t Know What It Means” found the pair trading solos over a soulful groove, with a side of a capella singing and sax solos. With no pause, Tedeschi then put her guitar to the side in order to give full reign to her scorching voice on a cover of the Box Tops’ “The Letter,” via its rollicking arrangement from Englishmen. The group returned to Let Me Get By for “Laugh About It,” an infectious slice of soul/pop that took on the aura of a gospel revival. Dipping back into the Mad Dogs’ repertoire, TTB took Cocker’s version of the Leonard Cohen standard “Bird On a Wire” and made it their own by virtue of a sparse arrangement and a stunning Tedeschi vocal. “She is Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin’s love child,” remarked Darren Addy who was watching the livestream on our ACLTV YouTube channel.  

Eschewing classic rock nostalgia for a bit, the band gave the audience another pair of samples from Let Me Get By. The shuffling jazz/funk title track put the spotlight on keyboardist Kofi Burbridge, while the jumping “I Want More” put Motown through its jam band paces with a gentle jazz coda. The group then revisited its Grammy Award-winning debut album Revelator for the silky smooth “Midnight in Harlem,” preceded by a smoky-improvised intro that had the crowd applauding Trucks’ every lick. Having thoroughly established their prowess for original music, TTB jumped back to Mad Dogs and Englishmen for a New Orleans-influenced reinterpretation of the Ray Charles-associated R&B tune “Sticks and Stones,” sung by backup singer Mike Mattison. Mattison and Tedeschi then took on a cover of Derek & the Dominos’ “Keep On Growing,” as Trucks laid down licks that would make Eric Clapton proud.

The band then dug deep into the blues, taking Tedeschi back to her roots with a searing cover of Bobby Blue Bland’s “I Pity the Fool” – an appropriate choice, since Tedeschi shared her first ACL episode with Bland back in 1998, and one that allowed her to show off her own formidable six-string skills. Tedeschi Trucks Band ended the main set with “The Storm,” the centerpiece of second LP Made Up Mind. An extended intro gave Austin jazz king Ephraim Owens (last seen on our stage backing Mumford & Sons) plenty of space to bounce off of Trucks’ spurts of guitar, before Trucks and Tedeschi bashed out the blues-rocking main riff, the group locked into the 70s soul groove and there were solos all around. The crowd went wild – “They are on fire tonight!” enthused YouTube viewer LIZISHIELDS 1.

But of course, that wasn’t the end. As Tedeschi announced that it was their last show of the year, the band returned to the stage to close out the running themes. “Anyhow” was the final new song of the evening, and an easygoing, 70s-style soul groove it was. The show finally came to a climax with “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” the Ray Charles hit essayed by Cocker and his Mad Dogs and given new life by TTB via round robin vocal lines and a traditionalist bent to the original R&B arrangement. It was a slam-bang finish to a blazing set that both live and online audiences loved, and a fine way to bring our 41st taping season to a close. “Excellent direction,” commented YouTube viewer Stu Levitan. “Whole production excellent!” We can’t wait for you to see this performance when it airs as a full-hour episode on February 13th, 2016 on your local PBS station.

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Featured News

ACL artists at the 2016 Grammys

The nominations for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards are out now, and we’re pleased to see that a number of Austin City Limits’ distinguished guests have received top honors. Congratulations to Kendrick Lamar with eleven nominations: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song (twice), Best Rap Album, Best Pop/Sung Collaboration, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Best Dance Recording and Best Music Video (twice!). Also shout-outs to a number of Season 41 performers receiving well-deserved nominations, including Alabama Shakes, nominated for Album of the Year, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical; Courtney Barnett, for Best New Artist, Angélique Kidjo, for Best World Music Album, Leon Bridges, for Best R&B Album, Don Henley, for Best American Roots Song and James Taylor, for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Kudos as well to the following ACL veterans who landed nominations: Florence + the Machine, John Legend, Ed Sheeran, Punch Brothers, Foo Fighters, Buddy Guy, Bela Fleck, the Mavericks, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Jason Isbell, Death Cab For Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Keith Urban, Kacey Musgraves, The Milk Carton Kids, Mavis Staples, Brandi Carlile, Lee Ann Womack, Hayes Carll, Ralph Stanley, Shemekia Copeland, Bettye LaVette, Patty Griffin, Glen Hansard of the Swell Season, Rhiannon Giddens and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Congratulations to them all.

Go here to see in what categories all these artists are nominated, as well as all the nominees.

Stay tuned to ACL to catch stellar performances from some of these fine folks in action in the coming weeks – Alabama Shakes kick off the second half of our Season 41 with a return appearance on January 2, Kendrick Lamar on January 9, Angélique Kidjo on January 23, Leon Bridges on February 6 and Ed Sheeran on February 27.

And don’t forget – our own executive producer Terry Lickona is also co-producer of the Grammy telecast, as well as the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy, the Grammys’ parent organization. The Grammy Awards broadcast on February 15th – Good luck to Terry and all the nominees!

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News

Giveaway: Tedeschi Trucks Band 12/14

UPDATE: Giveaway is now over

Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by Tedeschi Trucks Band on Monday, Dec. 14th, at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd).  We will be giving away a limited number of space available passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by noon on Thursday, Dec. 10th. Winners will be chosen at random and a photo ID will be required to pickup tickets. Winners will be notified by email. Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required.  No photography, recording or cell phone use in the studio. No cameras or recording devices allowed in venue.

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Featured Live Stream News

ACL to stream Tedeschi Trucks Band performance live on 12/14

Austin City Limits is pleased to announce that we will be streaming our final taping of Season 41, featuring roots rock giants Tedeschi Trucks Band live on Monday, Dec. 14, 8pm CT/9pm ET. The taping will webcast in its entirety via our YouTube channel, powered by Dell. 

TTB makes their ACL headlining debut on the eve of the release of their third full-length LP, Let Me Get By, on January 29th, 2016.  Led by the husband-and-wife team of singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi (who appeared twice on ACL as a solo artist) and guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks, the 12-piece outfit—one of the most deeply skilled and admired musical ensembles in the world—has quickly become the vanguard of modern roots music.  

Combining inspired Memphis soul, electric rhythm & blues, country, rock and classic song craft, Tedeschi Trucks Band has captured the admiration of both concert audiences and critics worldwide. Since their inception in 2010, TTB have seen both of their albums debut in the top 15 of the Billboard Top 200 album chart, and won a GRAMMY for their debut album Revelator, which was hailed by Rolling Stone as a “masterpiece.” They tour over 200 days a year, with such 2015 highlights as headlining their first Wheels of Soul amphitheater tour this past summer, four consecutive sold-out shows at the Beacon Theatre in NYC this fall, and a surprise appearance on the debut episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  In studio and on stage, TTB continue to flourish and surprise, and their highly-anticipated release, Let Me Get By, marks the beginning of another exciting chapter in the band’s storied tale.  

Let Me Get By is an album of firsts – in addition to being the first TTB record Trucks produced on his own, and the first on which he and Tedeschi wrote all the songs within the TTB family, it’s Trucks’ first album since his 15-year run as a member of the Allman Brothers concluded when the group disbanded last year. In Trucks’ own words, “That’s what I hear in the music on this new album – this feeling that we’re now putting 100% of what we have into this band, not going back to anything else, everyone giving it their all.”

The broadcast version of this show will air as our full-hour Season 41 finale February 13th, 2016 on PBS.  Join us for this highly-anticipated live webcast of the Austin City Limits debut of Tedeschi Trucks Band.

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Featured New Broadcast News

ACL announces second half of Season 41

The landmark television music series Austin City Limits announces the second half of Season 41, with seven brand-new shows to begin airing in January 2016. ACL has featured some of the most iconic performances in live music for over four decades, and continues with an ever more diverse line-up showcasing the most original and relevant music of today.  The program returns on Saturday, January 2nd at 8pm CT/9pm ET, ringing in the new year with a new installment featuring the return of powerhouse rockers Alabama Shakes and the debut of soul revivalists Vintage Trouble.  

A season highlight is multiple Grammy Award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar making his first-ever appearance on the ACL stage. The hip-hop superstar dazzles in an epic hour with an explosive career-spanning set. Rock troubadour Ryan Adams, an ACL veteran who appeared in the milestone Season 40, returns with a special all-acoustic set, sharing an episode with acclaimed Austin indie-folk rocker Shakey Graves.  The extended line-up features a number of artists making ACL debuts, among them soul phenom Leon Bridges and breakout rock ‘n soul sensations Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats in a scorching double-bill. African music queen Angélique Kidjo captivates in a stunning hour of world music. Influential indie-rock trio Sleater-Kinney make their ACL debut sharing an episode with Austin’s own garage rockers Heartless Bastards, who return in their first appearance since their arresting 2009 debut. Roots rock giants Tedeschi Trucks Band close out the season in a must-see full-hour season finale.  

“With Grammy season heating up, we offer our own taste of some of ‘the best of the best’ in the year of music,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Kendrick Lamar showcases his hip-hop masterpiece, To Pimp A Butterfly; Angelique Kidjo is a world music superstar; and the rest of the season offers up everything from R&B to folk and indie rock.  This is one of our most diverse seasons ever.”

ACL’s Season 41 premiered in October with unforgettable performances from Sturgill Simpson, Asleep at the Wheel, Cassandra Wilson, Courtney Barnett, Gary Clark Jr., TV On The Radio, The War on Drugs, Don Henley, James Taylor and more. The award-winning series will continue to broadcast fan-favorite encore episodes through the end of 2015. In what has become an ACL holiday tradition, the program will encore Tom Waits’ legendary December 1978 performance, one of the most requested episodes in ACL’s 40+ year archive. Tune-in on December 19th to see this classic Christmas episode.

Season 41 | 2016 Broadcast Schedule

January 2 Alabama Shakes / Vintage Trouble

January 9 Kendrick Lamar

January 16 Ryan Adams / Shakey Graves

January 23 Angélique Kidjo

January 30 Sleater-Kinney / Heartless Bastards

February 6 Leon Bridges / Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

February 13 Tedeschi Trucks Band